vengence
by wizz713
Summary: Its been a month since captain Gutt was defeated. everyone is settling into a new life. everything seems peacefull. untill the unexpected hapens
1. The good captain

a herd of deer were on the edge of a forest, peacefully grazing to their heart's content. they were unaware to the danger that they were in. in the shadows of the forest, lurked a tiger. he was hungry. _that deer will make a good meal. _he thought, seeing a young one all alone on the edge of the herd. suddenly a golden blur streaked through the air. the deer scattered in its wake. it was a saber tooth tiger. it charged at the deer that it had been eying. the deer ran, but it wasn't fast enough. the tiger caught and killed it. he was satisfied with his catch. he devoured it quickly and headed for home.

"Hi there." said a voice behind him. He spun around, ready to attack the speaker. Then he realised who it was.

"Oh. uh, hi Shira." he replied "I didn't realise it was you."

"Who did you think I was then?" she asked.

"I don't know." he turned and started walking again. "It's getting late. I'm gonna go back." she fell in beside him as he headed to the cave they all slept in.

"So, what were you doing?" she asked him.

"I was out hunting."

"Did you catch anything?"

"Yea, I had a nice meal. first time since the continental drift that I had something respectable to eat. What were _you_ doing?"

"I was out on the beach fishing."

"Any luck?"

"I did pretty good I guess. I caught enough for myself. Hey, Deigo, there was something I wanted to ask you."

"Sure. What?"

"Well," she thought about how to word her thoughts. "I was wondering if you ever considered starting a family."

"You mean, You and me?"

"Hey Diego!" said the voice of a very annoying sloth "Having a nice little talk with you girlfriend?"

"Sid! How many times do I have to tell you, she is NOT my girlfriend."

The sloth was just giggling. "Oh, I see. you two..."

Diego marched right up to the sloth. "Don't say that, don't even think that or you are a dead sloth. Got it?" he said in a quiet, threatening tone.

the sloth just nodded nervously. "Good." Diego said. Sid backed away until he was out of sight. Diego turned around to see Shira still standing right where he left her with an amused expression on her face. "What?" he asked her.

"I'll take that as a no." she said. Diego was really embarrassed by this point.

"I... uh, I never, I never really thought about it."

she just gave him an amused smile and kept walking. he followed until eventually they reached the cave. he was looking forward to a good night's sleep.

He had trouble sleeping that night, but when he did his dreams were dark. he dreamed of the day he met Shira. she stood on the ship looking, down at him he was amazed by her beauty. then, there was total chaos. he cut rope after rope and then she landed on the last one. "Oh. You almost made it." she mocked him he roared and leaped on her and the next thing he knew, she was lying dead at his paws. Then a shadow fell on him.

"Good. Very good." said a voice. He turned.

"You!" he shouted. It was captain Gutt.

"Yes. It's me." Said the captain "Are you really that surprised to see me?"

"You died when we sank your ship!"

"Really? Did I now. I once made a promise to a, disloyal first mate."

"Shira?"

"Yes. Shira. I told her that, before this was over, I would have a tiger's pelt on my wall. I don't care to which of you this pelt belonged."

Diego roared. he charged Gutt. the monkey easily sidestepped and, almost as an afterthought, spun his sword so it hit Diego on the back. "You'll have to do better than that kitty." he taunted Diego felt a weight drop on him and saw Shira, pinning him down.

"_Don't_ call me kitty." again he felt his rage well up he swiped at her with a paw. blood oozed from her throat. She looked at him with a stunned expression. she fell off him and landed on the deck.

"We meet again tiger." Said the ape. Again Diego charged. Gutt pushed him off the side of the boat. He landed on the ship they had as they ran away from Gutt on the island he turned and saw Shira still standing on the glacier she pushed ice in Gutt's path, but he pushed it off the edge. He then pinned Shira to the wall and, to Diego's horror, he impaled her with his sword. then he turned and fixed his evil grin on Diego. He prepared to leap back and avenge Shira's death, but Many stood in his path.

"No Diego! she bought us enough time to escape!"

then, Diego was back on the iceberg where he had killed Shira for the first time

"I am coming for you. said the captain, growing an evil grin.


	2. preperations

Diego woke up. The sun was just coming up. "Manny!" The mammoth stirred.

"What is it Diego?" He said in a tired voice.

"Something is going to happen. Something bad."

"How do you know?"

"Look, I just know. Okay?" Diego replied.

"Alright keep your fur on. I'm coming."

Diego and Manny reached the shore. Diego was sure that Gutt would come by sea. "Okay, I want you to watch the ocean."

"Why?"

"Because that's where its gonna happen. Look, I need to talk to Shira."

"Fine, go."

"Shira!" Diego whispered in her ear, careful not to wake the sleeping mammoths nearby.

"What?"

"its captain Gutt. He told me something."

"He _told_ you?"

"I thought he was dead."

"So did I."

"What did he say?" Diego quickly explained the story of his dreams and what Gutt had said. "He said _what_?"

"He said 'Before this is over, I will have a tiger's pelt on my wall. I don't care to which of you it belonged.'"

"He said that exact same thing to me after I escaped the tree prison."

"Then he told me that he was coming for us."

"Oh no. He had a secret ship called the queen's revenge hidden off the coast of an island. He had some pirate friends there. He should be able to convince them to help his cause. He'll have an entire fleet with him!"

"Not good. We have to be ready when he comes."

"Right! come on, follow me!"

"Sid! Come on!" He yelled as he ran by.

"Hey wait up!" Sid shouted. "Wait for me!" the two tigers ignored him.

"Where are we going Shira?" Diego inquired.

"Ship."

"We don't have a ship."

"Exactly!"

"Right. We're going to the ship, that we don't have."

"Yep." Shira stopped at the edge of a cliff and they all looked down. bellow them, was a bay filled with chunks of ice broken off from glaciers. some were the right size to be made into ships. "We... Will _build_ a ship."

"Out of that?" Diego asked.

"Do you see anything else? Yes that!"

the three of them worked all day at building the ship. they shaped the ice so that it would have less drag on the water. They found logs and cut holes for them in the ice. then they froze the mast in place. they put a ruder on the ship and sails on the mast. they found hollow logs and put them on the sides to use as canons. they cut out balls of ice to use as cannonballs. then their ship was finally done. Sid fell over and went into an exhausted sleep. Diego and Shira sat next to each other. "That was fun." Diego said.

Manny ran up. "I've been looking everywhere for you guys!" he said.

"Why? What's the problem?" Diego asked.

"I saw a ship. Its coming our way."


	3. The revenge Part 1

"Oh no." Shira and Diego said at the same time. "He's here already?" Diego asked. "Manny, tell Ellie to take Peaches further inland! They'll be safer there!" Shir instructed. "Then get everyone else aboard!" Manny ran off to get warn the others. Diego and Shira prepared their vessel for launch. Before long Manny returned with the two possums. They were holding knives similar to the one Buck had and they were wearing eye patches. They were arguing over who was the better fighter.

"No I am!"

"No I am!"

"No I am!"

"No I am!"

"No I am!"

"No I am!"

"knock it off you two!" Said Manny.

"Why are you guys dressed like pirates?" Diego questioned.

"Never mind that! We've got to find out who's out there and what they want." Manny told him. Diego and Shira looked at each other.

"Way ahead of you buddy." Diego told him.

"They want a fight." Shira informed the mammoth "They're here for me and Diego.

"Its Gutt." Diego finished.

"But... Isn't he dead?" asked Manny.

"We thought that to." said Diego.

"We're wasting to much time!" Said Shira.

"She's right! Lets go!" Said Diego. they moved out of the bay at full speed and approached Gutt's ship.

"I don't like this." Shira told them worriedly. "If he went and got his hidden ship, where is his fleet?"

"Are you sure that's the one?" Diego asked.

"Yes. totally sure." she replied as they came up along side it.

"Hello down there kitty!" said a voice from above. He knew that Shira hatted that name. "Long time no see."

"Captain, I see you're still wasting your precious sanity chasing down old enemies."

"Ha! You were always the smart one! but now I've outsmarted you! say goodbye!"

"Goodbye!" Sid shouted up at him. the monkey sighed.

"Fire Port side canons!" Gutt yelled.

"Fire starboard side canons!" Shira shouted.

soon the two ships were in a furious fire of broken ice flew everywhere. _we're losing!_ thought Diego. Gutt's ship was much, much bigger, so it held more canons. "Prepare to board!" Gutt shouted above all the chaos. vines with weighted ends were flung at the masts, wrapping around and holding tight. Diego saw a rabbit flying at him. Squint smiled up at him and twirled his knife. Diego just gave him a flick and he flew across the deck, a startled expression on his face. Diego saw that one of the vines had gone back to the other ship. he climbed across.

"Hello mate!" He turned around and got a hard kick. he saw Raz, the kangaroo, walking towards him with a long deadly looking sword in her hand. Diego snarled and charged but the kangaroo was to quick for him. she dodged and tried to deliver a good blow from her sword. Diego dodged and spun around. the kangaroo leaped into the air, intending to land a crushing blow on him. at the last second, he jumped up to meet her. he saw surprize in her eyes as he charged. The force of the impact left Diego in a dazed state. the kangaroo had flown into the rail on the side of the ship. Diego saw that he was hopelessly outnumbered on his enemies' ship. he found the vine he had used to get there and headed for it. he almost reached it when something landed on it. It was captain Gutt.


	4. The revenge Part 2

Shira looked up in dismay at Gutt blocking the escape. "Going so soon?" Diego roared and charged Gutt. Gutt snapped the vine that connected the ships and leaped up on top of Diego. The move left Diego stunned for a few seconds. The momentary distraction was enough for Gutt. He slashed Diego with his sword. Diego kicked and as Gutt weight shifted, he slithered out. He charged Gutt again. This time, he was prepared for the trick. as Gutt came down, he turned 180 degrees and slashed Gutt with his claws. all the crew seemed to have forgotten the fighting and was cheering on their captain.

"Fire!" Shira Shouted. Cannonballs flew to the other ship. The fighting stopped and the crew stared at the captain.

"Don't just stand there! BATTLE STATIONS!" The captain shouted above the canonfire. The pirates pulled out swords and fired the cannons. Shira then noticed something.

"Stop!" She yelled at Manny. he stopped and looked at her. "We don't have enough cannonballs to keep this up!" She told him "We have to make every shot count!" He nodded. "Fire for the lower section of the ship. If it breaks, the ship will flood and sink." He needed no more instruction. He fired at the bottom deck. unfortunately, at the angle they were at, It had little effect on the Massive vessel. "Keep hitting the same spot! It will weakened the hull there!" He fired again and again. After about 5 shots, a crack formed "One more time!" She told him.

He fired it will all his mighty strength. The crack grew. Shira clonked the heads of 2 of her former shipmates together, knocking them both out. The crack got even bigger. They drove back the last of the attackers on to their own ship. Then, she realized something "Diego!" She shouted. he was still on the other ship.

"I could use a little help here!" He said as they surrounded him. She saw squint's knife stuck in the ice from when she had fought him. she picked it up. she wasn't very good with this kind of weapon. she closed her eyes and threw it. she heard a screech of pain. she looked up to see that she had struck Gutt in the shoulder. Diego took advantage and leaped over to his own ship.

"No!" Gutt shouted. he threw a rope, which caught Diego on the leg. But Gutt had little leverage. in his haste, he had not had time to think. the rope slid out of his hand, but it pulled Diego slightly of course. Boom! He bowled Shira over laying on top.

"Get off!" Shira said, pushing him away, slightly annoyed and slightly amused. "You are..." she was cut off as the other, larger ship returned fire. She looked down at the crack they had made. It had stopped spreading! She looked around the deck. They were out of cannonballs! She signaled Diego to follow her and ran towards a chunk of ice. As she reached it, it was hit by a shot from the revenge. She saw Its continuous Fire aimed at them. She shove Diego out of the way of a huge chunk of ice.

"Hurry!" Manny shouted. they found a good sized chunk and pushed it over to him. he ripped out one of the cannons from the deck and slammed it down on the chunk of ice. it was shaped perfectly for a cannonball now. Gutt saw what they were doing

"Hit their guns!" He ordered his crew. The cannons started exploding one by one. Manny picked up the selected ice with his trunk and put it in the cannon. It didn't go in. it was to big! he pulled it out again. half the cannons were already.

"Hurry!" She told him. He shoved it back in the cannon. Three quarters were gone. he fired it just as the cannon he was on exploded. It hit with precision accuracy. The crack spread along the ship. Then it went up. The ship split entirely in half.

Gutt saw the crack and realized what had happened. "Abandon ship!" He ordered his crew. they needed no instruction as the two halves floated away from each other. The Revenge's crew swam for their lives. They grabbed on to anything that would float. they moved as fast as they could to get away. They knew that if they were to close when it went under, they would be sucked down too.

Shira looked at the vessel as the last bit went under. _Where was Gutt?_ _Had he gone down with his ship?_ That didn't seem at all like him though. She looked up and saw the rest of the herd staring off in the distance. She followed their gaze. She saw a shape in the mist. _What is that?_ She thought as it drifted closer._ Its a ship!_ Then they saw a sight that made all of them, even Shira's jaw drop. Shapes appeared all around the first. dozens of ships heading their way. They seemed to never end! they kept coming like a swarm of bees. There were to many to count. Then, the largest apeared out of the mist. Gutt swung from the mast. He had an evil smile on his face. He knew, that he had won.

* * *

**This may seem short (The doc looked shorter that usual on my screen.) But it has the same amount of words as all of my other chapters so far 900 words. Its because everything is groupd in a few long paragraphs not a lot of short ones whitch take up more room.**


	5. The armada

Diego stared at the approaching knew that they wouldn't stand a chance even if their ship was in a good condition. Now they stood no chance at all. In their damaged state, they could hard of the question. if they abandoned their ship, they would just make for an easier target. If they fought, they would surly lose. they had only one option, surrender.

"Give me the tigers.' Gutt demanded. "Then the rest of you can go free."

"Never!" Manny shouted back.

"I'll go." Shira conceded. Gutt smiled.

"Very good." he said

"If she goes, then I'll go too." Diego told Gutt.

"Good." Gutt said he threw ropes over and the two sabers boarded. "I am a man of my word." He said. "The rest of you may go." Manny looked as if he was about to object.

"No Manny." Diego said sadly. "Leave it. We'll be alright." The armada turned around and sailed away.

* * *

Shira was tried to the mast sitting next to Diego. She looked around at her former crewmates and Gutt's old pirate friends.

"Don't worry." Diego said. "They have a lot of powerful friends. They'll bring help and rescue us."

"Like who?"

"Uh, Uh, I can't think of one right off the bat, but they have friends!" Shira looked at him, still unconvinced "Uh, Uh, Oh! Buck!"

"Buck?"

"Buck."

"Who's Buck?"

"He's a crazy weasel from a land filled with dinosaurs." Shira looked at him disbelieving. "Well, he managed to survive down there for a few years. He's the best fighter I know." What he _didn't _know, was that Gutt had been standing on the mast right above their heads the whole time.

"... And a lot of others that I don't want to go into detail about." Shira looked like she believed him now. He had convinced Gutt too. Gutt realized that this was a problem for him. He needed to stop this. And do it fast.

* * *

Manny and the others worked tirelessly to repair their damaged ship. All of them worked day and night. Even so, by the time they were ready to set sail again, Gutt had nearly an entire days lead. They set sail and went to look for their friends. They had packed enough supplies to last them for months and they had repaired most of the damage to the hull by freezing smaller chunks of ice to the damaged parts. all the cannons had been replaced. They knew, that even with their vessel fully repaired, it stood no chance. they would have to find a way to do it with minimal fighting involved

* * *

"How many of these, friends, are there exactly?" Gutt asked, jumping down in front of them. Diego and Shira looked at each other. Gutt smiled down at them. Then he walked away to give orders to his crew.

"Now what?" Shira asked. "They just lost the advantage of surprize."

"We sit here, and hope it still works." Gutt was talking to a couple of his old pirate friends. "... Exactly, and I mean _Exactly _alike."

"Aye aye Cap'n." Said the pirates, and went to leave the ship.

_What is exactly alike?_ Shir thought.


	6. Cold trail

A ship sailed through the endless oceans. To any observer, it would seem that this ship had no destination. It roamed around as if searching for something. At every island it stopped and the crew would go ashore. However, it was clear that they were there for more that just supplies. for one thing their ship was to crowded to pick up more. The ship stopped at a small island and the crew yet again went ashore. There was a mammoth, two sloths, and two possums. they walked ashore and immediately went inland.

"Do you think we'll ever find them?" The sloth asked the mammoth.

"We'll find them Sid." The mammoth replied.

* * *

Two tiger sat tied up next to each other on the deck of a ship. They looked tired, scared, and hungry to the point of passing out. They both wore wounds from a recent battle. their pelts were bloodstained and visible scratches showed through their thin fur. They looked beaten and defeated. As if they had surrendered all hope of escaping this dreadful ship. The female saber lifted her head to speak.

"Diego, do... do you really think they'll find us?" She asked, her voice tired from lack of use.

"I'm sure... they'll come up... with something." Diego told her "They always... managed to... in the past."

"But... with this... huge fleet... how?"

"I've... no idea

* * *

"Manny, this is pointless!" Sid told him. "We can't track them through the water."

"When did you become the expert?"

"About..."

"Never mind. I'm sure we'll find some trace off them." Though he spoke with confidence, a part of him knew that Sid, however dull he was, was right. he was no tracking expert. He had no idea how to find Gutt's armada. For hours, they went to any land mass they could find. They searched more islands than they could count. they found no traces of the armada however.

* * *

"We need to eat something." Diego told Shira. "I haven't eaten in days."

"We need to get off this ship!"

"That, is not something that we have to worry about right now. However, we do need to worry about the fact that we might die of starvation at any second!" They argued untill they were to tired to talk anymore. Then, a shadow loomed over them

* * *

Manny thought he saw something in the distance. "Hey Sid, come over here." The sloth came trotting over. "See that?" The sloth squinted into the distance.

"Yep." Manny waited for the sloth to say more.

"Well, its a ship." Manny said "Lets go check it out

* * *

"Cap'n, we got em. just like ye told us." Said the pirate as he pulled the ropes for one of the boats. Gutt looked over the side and smiled.

"Exactly alike." He said. "Good job. Do it." He said, gesturing to one of the pirates. He came up in front of Diego and hit him on the head with a block of ice. as he drifted out of conciousness, he saw them do the same to Shira.

* * *

**Notice: I'll give hints at something interesting in the next chapter. see if you can figure it out before you get to that part in the story!**


	7. Diversion

**This is an extremely short chapter because I wanted to get your guesses on whats up before I tell you.**

* * *

The ship ailed to the island where they had seen the ship. they stopped their ship and all went ashore. First, they checked the ship. Manny was confused. It was completely empty. It was in prime condition. why had it been left there? They were all confused.

"Well, while were here, I think we should gather some supplies." Manny stated. They all split up and went into the jungle area near the middle. Manny walked along and found a lot of plants, but he didn't recognize them. He knew that he shouldn't pick them for food. he searched for a while until he found some plants he recognized as edible.

* * *

Sid was walking through the trees. he looked down and saw something that looked out of place in the damp, forest. something smooth reflected the sun. He hurried over to investigate. As he ran, he tripped over something smooth and soft. He looked back, expecting to see some kind of furry plant. Instead, what he saw shocked him. He ran to where Manny was picking fruits off trees.

"Manny!" He shouted. "Hurry! This way!" The mammoth had no time to ask questions. He ran after the frightened sloth until they reached the spot. It was a clearing. It had nothing hanging over it, so the sun flashed off of the only two things in the clearing. Two dead tigers, their smooth pelts reflected the sunlight perfectly. The mammoth was stunned. He looked down at them, assessing the cause of death. The only injury on them was a gash to the throat. Gutt knew how to kill. But why?


	8. Gutt's plan

Then? Manny noticed something. The only injury on them was the slash on their throats. They had been slashed and beaten half to death in the last battle! This wasn't them! It was a trick! He got up and ran as fast as he could to the beach. To late! When he got there, he saw Gutt's armada surrounding them. There was no escape!

"Sid! Get the others!" He shouted back. Sid ran and before long had returned with the two possums. When he got back, Manny had already prepared them to go. When they were all aboard, they set sail. Gutt was ready to meet them. his huge vessel sailed up to theirs.

* * *

Shira woke up to find herself being held by two pirates. They dragged her to the front. She saw the herd on a ship bellow. She looked to her left and saw Diego was awake too. He was being held the same way. Then, a knife slid across her throat. She looked down and saw the herd looking up in fear.

* * *

"Hello there. Glad you could make it." Said Gutt.

"What do you want?" Manny yelled at him.

"Me? What do _I_ want? All I want is my revenge."

"You'll have trouble getting that. It's at the bottom of the ocean now!" Sid said triumphantly. Gutt sighed.

"Kill them." He ordered.

* * *

"Kill them." The knife on Shira's throat moved forward to come back and strike her. Now was her chance! She ducked and kicked out to the left. She heard the pirate holding Diego Yowl in pain. She twisted and raked her claws along the side of one of her guards and shoved the other one overboard before the first even hit the ground.

Everyone was to stunned to move. She took advantage of this. she grabbed Diego in her teeth and threw him over to their ship. She atemped to follow, but something pulled her back. She looked up, and was not happy, yet not to surprized to see Captain Gutt.


	9. The miracle

"Going so soon... kitty." Gutt said. That was it! He had crossed the line! Shira hissed. She clawed at his face. An agonizing pain seared her stomach. She collapsed and looked down. There was a knife there. She pulled it out. It left a terrible pain, but she knew that this blade would poison her if she left it there to long. She slammed the blade down on the deck. It imbedded itself several inches into the ice. That wouldn't be coming out anytime soon. But there was a problem. The wound was now emiting more blood. The knife had held back most of the stream. Now it poured out. She crawled to the side and was vaguely aware of cannon shots being fired on either side of her. She took a deep breath and launched herself off the side. She felt her paws slipping in her own blood as she landed. She then fell over, unconscious.

* * *

Diego looked on in horror as the knife went into her chest. "FIRE!" He ordered. cannons erupted from their ship. they had a momentary advantage, as they had fired first. the enemy was surprized that they had fired. He looked at Shira and saw her jump. She soared through the air for what seemed like days. Finlay, she landed on the deck of their ship. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Then, he saw that she was unconscious. He ran to her side.

"Sid!" He yelled. Sid happened to be the first person he saw when he looked up. Sid came running over. He saw the tremendous blood loss. He and Diego quickly worked to stop the bleeding. They had no idea how to treat an injury like this. They tried their best to stop the bleeding, but they couldn't get to the source of the bleeding. There wasn't much they could do. There wasn't much on the ship to use as bandaging for the wound. She needed to see a doctor. Now.

"Diego!" A voice yelled. "We need you to guide the ship!" Diego looked uncertainly at Shira.

"She'll be fine." Sid assured him. Diego hesitated still. Then a cannonball almost hit him.

"Right!" He ran to the rudder control. cannon fire erupted on all sides. One ship was on each side of them. He turned the ship so its bow faced one of the ships. "FIRE ALL FORWARD CANNONS!" He instructed. The two ships each fired a volley of cannonballs at them. one or two hit, the rest crashed into the two inward facing ships. Then the cannons on their ship exploded. The ship in front of them cracked and fell apart from the stress. The other tipped so violently from the impact, that it capsized. A ship got on their tail. He led them straight towards another vessel. they were to busy to notice. He turned at the last minuet and let the two ships crash. they both sunk. He turned and remembered Sid was treating Shira. He rushed over to help.

They tried to stop the bleeding. That was their first priority. The blood kept coming. "No!" Whispered Diego. "Don't go. I love you." A tear fell on her. She was still alive, but they could tell that she was going to die. "No. Please don't let her die." Suddenly there was a bang and a flash of light.

* * *

Shira walked through a place of indescribable beauty. A forest. Light shown all around them. It was so peaceful. She walked under the bows of the trees and was content. Then, A voice spoke behind her.

"Hello Shira." She turned to see a tiger, much like herself, walking up.

"Hello, who are you?" Shira asked.

"Me? My name is of no importance at. What matters is you."

"Where am I?" Shira asked.

"Where? Shira, you are dying." Shira tried to be startled, but that was not possible in a place like this.

"Yes. Come. It is time to move on."

"Move where?"

"On." answered the cat as she walked away. Shira followed. They walked for a long time, but Shira's paws never got tired. after a while, They reached the slope of a very tall mountain. As Shira stepped up, a loud voice commanded

"Stop Shira. Do not pass into the land of the dead. For you are still living. If you take another step, you will be lost forever." The surrounding began to fade "It is not your time." the voice called as she left.

* * *

"Diego!" Manny shouted. "Get up here! They're gaining on us!" Diego looked around.

"Diego! The bleeding stopped!" Sid told him. Diego rushed for the front of the ship and steered them to avoid a huge ship. a shot struck them. the mast toppled over. It landed on another ship, linking them together. pirates began to board. A pirater attaked him and he spun around to face him. As he did, he saw Shira. He had to go and protect her! He clawed at the pirate's face and ran to Shira's side.

* * *

Shira felt pain. Terrible waves of pain in her stomach. She heard fighting. She smelled blood. Her own blood! She felt cold ice bellow her. She tasted salty ocean air. She opened her eyes and saw a battle raging on. Then She saw Diego.

"Diego!" She called.

* * *

"Diego!" He spun around to see Shira trying to get up.

"Shira!" He called happily. He ran over, pushing her onto her back, And kissed her. Shira broke away.

"Diego, not that I'm unhappy to see you, but it looks to me as if a battle is being fought here."

"Yes! Right! Er... follow me then." Shira tried to roll over, but pain stabbed her agian. Diego ran over to help her get up. He supported her as they walked to a more protected area of the ship. "Stay here!" Diego told her as he ran off to rejoin the battle.

_As if I Could just go running off! I can hardly stand!_


	10. A plea for Help

Two vesles had thier sails locked and were engauged in vicious firefights. Ice flew from both vesles high into the sky and fell back down creating huge waves that splashed over the deck. Eventualy, a crack formed in the larger ship. The crew of the other looked up in relief, but thier victory was short lived. They soon realized that the locked mast was pulling them under too.

"ABANDON SHIP!" Diego cried. Every one scrambled to the edge. They jumped and he was about to follow when he remembered Shira. He ran back and helped her to her paws.

"Come on!" He urged her. She stumbled, half being carried to the edge. Then she stoped.

"Oh no. I'm not going to go over there!"

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm NOT!"

"GO! NOW!"

"NO!" Diego realized that there was no time to argue. He simply ducked away from her, leting her fall and slip over the side. He jumped after. They swam after the herd and made for the nearest ship. Diego realized that Shira could not swim that far. She was struggling to keep her head above water. He grabbed her by the scruff and dragged her to a chunk of floating ice, where he set her down. They soon realized that sitting on this piece of rubble was worse than floundering about in the trechorous waves. The current pulled them the wrong way to get to the ship that the herd was fighting on. Plus, they had no cover here. cannonshots fell around them, almost hitting. Diego grabbed a chunk of ice and held it up as a shield when he saw that they were aiming spears at him. When the barage was over, he looked at the five deadly points imbeded in the ice. then, he let it go as it was hauled in by grapling hooks. Suddenly, the iceberg shifted and Diego and Shira flew into the air. Dlanded right infront of a floating cannonball. Then, he realized with panic that it was sucking him under. He tried to get the surface, but soon his efforts became feeble from lack of oxegen and finaly, he passed out.

* * *

Shira saw Diego as he was sucked under.

"Diego!" She screamed. She tried to move forward, but a bolt of agony seared her belly. She braced her self for the next pain as she moved another few feet. She slowly inched forward. After what felt like a year, but in truth was only about ten seconds, she reached the iceberg. She mentaly prepared herself for what was to come. She lifted her paws out of the water and heaved the ball so it rolled. The pain that she had felt before was nothing compared to this. She screamed with the pain fell backwards into the water. she recovered and pushed again. Again agony seared through her. She then saw Diego's paw sticking out. she grabbed him and dragged him from under the ice. She draged him onto another piece of ice and listeded for breathing. nothing. She began to panic. She aplied presure to his chest and water spilled out of his mouth. after a while he began breathing. Shira looked around. They had floated very far in that time. If she looked back, she could not even see the waring ships anymore. but ahead, was an island. A very big islan, though not the size of one of those new contenents. There were figures roaming about the beaches, but wwas even more surprizing, was the shis sailing around it. they were not the crude make of a pirate vessle. These ships seemed works of art, as if they belonged.

"Ahoy there!" Called a voice frof just to thier right. Diego turrned and Shira tried to turn, but felt the pain in her stomach and colapsed. Diego cast a worried glance over his shoulder at her. "What brings you here, East of the Atlantic?"

"East?" Diego asked. They had realy come that far?

"Yes. What bring you here?" Replied the cat ,now visible over the side of his ship.

"We were fighting a battle and driffted out to sea, away from our friends."

"Where is this battle?" Asked the cat.

"Southeast of here." Diego replied. Shira tried to get up, but fell down again with the pain from her swim. "And, sir, friend here was wounded in the fight. she needs a doctor."

"Of course. I will see that you are well treated. Come aboard." He tossed a rope over the edge. Diego followed Shira up, helping her if she began to fall off. "How many are in this battle?" asked the captain of the ship, the one that had called to them.

"Mabey fourty or fifty engaged us." Diego told the story. When he had finished, the captain looked thoughtfull. "Will you help us?" Diego pleaded.

"Tell me: Why should I help you?"

"Because, these are pirates that we are dealing with. If they find out about this place, I am sure they would want to come here and loot your homes." The big cat considered for a moment.

"Alright." He said "I will get ten of my best warships. First mate! get over here and escort this lady to the medic." He instructed. The first mate, being a tiger himself, looked all to happy to help.

"I think I should go too." Diego told the captain.

"No. Don't worry. My men are trust worthy. They will do as I comand and they will do nothing bad to her. You need not worry. Besides, I need you to show me where this battlefield lies. We leave at once!"


	11. A fight worth fighting

Diego led the ships across the oceans. It was not as long a journey as he expected. Before long, he saw sales on the horizon. The herd had apparently captured a battleship. The fight yet raged on.

"There!" Cried Diego. "That's them!"

"Alright men, you know the drill. Battle stations!" The crew rushed with military efficiency to their stations. They maned the guns and readied to repel a boarding party. "CAPTAIN GUTT! YOU ARE PLACED UNDER ARREST BY THE ROYAL NAVY, AND ARE ORDERED TO COME WITH US PEACEFULLY! IF YOU DO NOT COMPLY, THEN YOU **WILL** BE FIRED UPON!" There was a moment's pause. and then a voice rang out in reply.

"WE WILL NEVER SURRENDER!"

"IF THAT IS YOUR CHOICE, THEN SO BE IT! FIRE AT WILL!" He commanded his crew. imeadietly, cannon shots whizzed from the royal armada and struck with precision accuracy, the opposing fleet. They had the advantage of surprize, and got off another volley as the enemy scrambled to there weapons. two ships sunk from Gutt's fleet, and the royal armada had not even a dent to show for it. But now, the armada was ready. They fired a volley, most of the shots missing the sleek, narrow ships and simply impacting it the ocean behind them.

* * *

Shira lay in the bottom of the ship. her wound had stopped hurting her, but she had been confined to her bed for several days. she was deeply irritated with this. it was the moonhigh killing all over again. they had treated her wound with a salve that took the pain away and made it an easy tak for her to move. the doctor sat in the far end of the room he turned.

"Are you alright miss?"

"Yes, fine."

"Would you like some tea?"

"Tea?"

"Oh, I had forgotten that where you come from there is now tea to be grown. It is an excellent drink that we of britain are rather fond of. Would you like a sip?"

"Yes."

"I'll be right back."

* * *

Although near twenty ships were sunk, and Diego was sure that a few more and the wreckage would be visible above the crashing waves, more kept coming. Diego noticed something rather alarming. They were running out of shots. soon they would be out and they would be open. that was probably Gutt's plan the moment he saw us. he knew he couldn't win a straight out battle, so he will wait for us to run out, and then hit us with his best men to break the battle weary soldiers. He was right. soon they ran out and gutt came up to fire. as he did this, ropes were thrown at his vessel and battle hungry men zipped down them. a couple of shots dented the beautiful hull, but the ship was soon theirs. Diego saw the pirates fleeing.

_something is wrong here._ he thought as he heard the cheering from the british crew. Again, unfortunately, he was right. out of the mist, came a huge lurking shadow. it was forty feet tall and a good seven hundred long. It bore countless weapon bays on the sides. The armor that thickened on its hull looked thick, and practically unbreakable.

"Fire, port side guns!" ordered the captain of the ship the port side guns had not been cleaned out, seeing as they had faced away from the main battle. the gun fired, but hardly seemed to touch it. it fired a volley and two ships sunk. the armada fired again. It moved with surprizing speed for something that big, and ramed another ship. it split the other in two. Diego jumped off onto the herd's ship as it bared down on the ship he had just been on. It was crushed also. The remainder of the british armada fled in terror of this new and mighty threat. then a thought occured to him: _Shira_!


	12. The Invincible

In just one second, Diego launched himself over the side like a bullet. he raced down into the lower deck of the ship and flew down the hall. he saw a crewman trying to get a friend loose from one of the rooms. he raced at the soldier, knocking him over.

"Where's Shira?!" He demanded. the crewman pointed shakily down the hall. Diego got off and raced in the indicated direction. he came to the last cabin in the isle and tried to open the door. It was jammed. he pushed harder. nothing. he rammed his body against it with all his force. the wood splintered under the impact and he saw a piece of ice was wedged in the doorway. Diego squeezed through a small gap at the side. there was shia. she lay unconscious by the wall.

_is that a wall?_ thought Diego frowning. he realized that it was moving. _It's the side of the other ship!_ he realized. Shira had literally been an inch away from death! Diego tried in vain to wake her. she was still alive. he could tell. but they, had to get out of here. he dragged her body to the door way. he noticed something odd. _The water! It was flowing the other way!_ _They were sinking__!_ he began pushing on the chunk of ice after about 30 seconds the floor began to visibly tilt. he pushed the ice out-of-the-way and dragged shira through.

they were out and he was scrambling for the exit. he felt the ship tilt now. he was sliding down the floor. he ran harder. the entrance was in sight now, but he was running on the wall. he burst out and made a mighty leap for safety. shira weighed him down, but he refused to let go. he landed hard on the deck and lay there, panting. he opened his eyes and saw shira safely beside him.

for a moment, he was allowed to breathe a sigh of relief. then the monster came at them.

"Battle stations!" he ordered. in a matter of seconds, the space between the two ships was ablaze with cannon fire. they fired every last shot the ship held. the mastodon however seemed to pay no more attention to that than a swarm of flys. and indeed it caused no more harm than a swarm of flys would. they could have sworn they heard laughter from atop the mighty ship as it returned fire. the effect was more like a meat grinder than a fly swarm.

the ship was soon immobile and had lost nearly half its hull to the bombardment. Diego and the herd rushed around the wreck of their ship, finding anything they could to shoot back with. the shots impacted with no more effect that slightly rocking the leviathan

* * *

Shira awoke to the sound of battle. she felt all the old wounds like fire over her pelt. she also felt a few new ones. she opened her eyes. they were on a 'ship' that now more resembled swiss cheese than a ship. there was the herd, fighting a battle to the end and there was... was that what she thought it was? it more than lived up to its standards and its name. it was the _invincible_. it was the most feared ship in all the seas. she wondered how on earth gutt had acquired this mighty vessel. if that was _invincible_, which she was almost certain it was, then they stood absolutely no chance at all.

* * *

shots flew between the two ships with consistently. only the herd's frigate seemed affected though. the _invincible_ was not hindered or damaged by their best gun shots.

"Fire!" Diego shouted again. two shots whizzed from their ship and slid off the hull of the other. it fired eight back and more ice fell into the ocean. as they scrambled to find something to use for a shot, the _invincible_ fired once more. this time there was an audible crack. Diego knew what that meant.

"Abandon ship!" He ordered as the ship spit cleanly in two halves. they needed no further warning. they all jumped over, Diego dragging the now partly conscious Shira with him.

_Just great._ thought Diego_, Now we're without a ship._

* * *

**Sorry for the long wait. it's just that I've been really busy in the past few weeks. I plan to be working on the last chapter soon.**


	13. No longer Invincible

fear dropped like a deadweight in Diego's chest. they were now fighting the most feared pirate ship in the seas, without a ship of their own, floating in the ocean, with a wounded charge. the shots from _Invincible_ never ceased. he dragged Shira through the hail storm of cannon fire and approached the monstrous ship. He knew that he needed a plan. and fast. he thought and thought and finally, an idea came with the tiniest flicker of hope. but he realized that he could not pull it off if he was dragging Shira with him. but he couldn't just leave her!

"Manny!" he called, his voice muffled by fur. the mammoth came over and Diego quickly explained his plan. the mammoth took Shira on his tusks and swam back to the rest, instructing them on the plan. the group trailed behind Diego as he approached the gargantuan hull. Diego saw that now, the gunners, realizing that their cannons would be ineffective at such close range, had resorted to harpoons.

Diego realized that he would have to be quick and pushed on faster. finally he came under the range of the harpoons. this however, meant that all of the harpoons were going at his friends; and Shira! He would have to be really quick now.

just then, the ice moved and the ship took a sharp, 180 degree turn. it pulled him in the trail of water filling in behind found himself on the opposite side of the ship from the herd. his plan was going bad already!

* * *

"Hurry! this way!" Manny shouted they followed him to a relatively large iceberg, which they took shelter on. the found floating chunks of ice and propped them up as defensive shields against the relentless storm of harpoons. meanwhile, all the creatures huddled around Shira, trying their best to care for her, but stay down so as not to get shot.

She didn't appear to have any serious condition except for the fact that she was not conscious. now there came the matter of reviving her. none of them were medical geniuses and even if they were they had no way to know what was wrong with her since non of them had seen how she had been hurt.

after many failed attempts, she finally seemed to be waking up.

* * *

Diego dug his teeth deep into the ice. he pulled his legs up and dug his claws in. he slowly, inch by inch, made his way up the side of the monster. but when he reached his desired entry point (the gun bay on the lower level of the ship) he realized a problem. due to the uselessness of the of the guns at such close range, the gun bay hatches were closed. he would have to make his way on deck and down through there. It meant he would have to walk right behind the vigilant crew! how could he possibly get by unseen?!

He would have to try it though. he realized as he remembered Shira. he finished the climb on deck.

* * *

Shira awoke to see the herd crowding around her. she stood up, and was rewarded with a near hit that taught her to keep her head down.

"What's going on?" She asked, looking around for Diego "Where's Diego?" she added, noting that he wasn't present. Manny and the others exchanged looks before replying:

"On the _invincible__." _Manny told her.

"What!" She exclaimed.

"He had a plan of sorts." Manny told her, going into a brief description of the plan.

* * *

Diego scrambled onto the deck and made his way, quietly as he could towards the ramp that led down to the lower deck. the ship was huge and had more pirates on it than he could count! but they all seemed occupied with hurtling their harpoons. He dodged behind a stack of crates just as captain Gutt came around the corner.

he remained hidden there, hoping that the captain would just go away. the captain however, stood there, overviewing the battle.

* * *

Shira grabbed a harpoon between two paws and used forward motion and gravity to throw it up at the ship. it was an awkward movement, and it wasn't very accurate, but it was the best she could do. she had, miraculously, remained unscathed. not a spear had touched her.

Shira picked out another to throw. She got up, and just as she was about to throw it, a shot hit her in the shoulder. she threw and then collapsed on deck.

* * *

a harpoon impaled the barrel that stood between Diego and Gutt. the captain looked around and Diego saw a look of surprize light his face. this gave him no more than a half second. it was all he needed. he darted out, slammed into the captain, and bolted down the hatch, closing it behind him. he braced it with a few things he found scrambling about in there. if he was right, he could use the guns bellow deck, more powerful and with better angle than normal guns, to tear the ship in half.

he heard pounding at the door and worked quickly. he pulled out the biggest gun he could find and aimed it down. he hurriedly loaded it and was about to fire, when the hatch burst open. Gutt came in and he forced to abandon the gun and fight. pirates surrounded him and began to tire him by darting in and out, this way and that, up, down, forward, and sideways in a confounding flurry of movement. he was constantly dodging and got few chances to strike back.

in the next second he was laying on his back, with pirates swarming over him. he lashed out and caught one. he heard a muffled scream of pain through the din of fighting. he struck out again and gained a foothold. he heaved himself up, throwing pirates in every direction.

* * *

the harpoons coming at them became less and less. Shira eventually braved a look over and found the deck deserted.

"Come on! Lets go!" she shouted. they followed her to the ship, which shira helped them climb, and were on deck.

* * *

Diego battled his way to the gun. there he met Gutt.

"Hello tiger." he said. all the pirates backed off. gutt lunged and Diego twisted. they locked in battle, but neither one seemed to have any leverage over the other.

* * *

Shira had not taken one step when, she heard rustling. there all around them, crew members appeared. they held all kinds of weapons and had the herd surrounded. Shira knew, that again so many, they stood no chance at all.

* * *

Diego slashed out at Gutt and shoved him to the floor. he delivered a series of blows before getting off.

* * *

the circle charged in and Shira knew, in a few moments, they would all be dead. she prepared herself for her final battle.

* * *

Diego ran for the gun and pulled the firing trigger. there was a loud; BOOM!

* * *

Shira and the pirates stopped at the crack that formed in the ship, both sides staring over at the other with shocked expressions at the other. at that moment, Diego came shooting out through the hatch to the lower deck to join them. Gutt was hard on his heels. Shira grabbed a rope laying near by and tripped Gutt with it.

"We have to get off this thing!" Shouted Diego. Gutt struggled to get up as the rest of the herd jumped and swam away, but the rope was tangled about his legs.

Shira slid down the deck as the ship tilted. she now saw that the line Gutt was tied to was attached to the ship she made to jump over, but Gutt caught her.

* * *

Diego saw what happened:

Shira tried to run. Gutt, sliding down the slippery deck of the sinking leviathan, grabbed hold of Shira as he slipped under.

the last words he uttered were: "If i'm going down, you're coming with me Kitty!" said gutt, as they disappeared under the crushing, dark waves.

* * *

**Yes. This is the end of the story. I will make another one telling what happens to Shira.**


End file.
